Raining in Baltimore - Saturday

Has anyone actually come to terms with the sculptural art outside Penn Station? I drive past it twice a day, just about every day and I still wonder. I suspect this makes good art. . .

People squawked about it like crazy when it was installed - so a definite emotional reaction. . .

And I'm still trying to figure it out - thought provoking.

Speaking about trying to figure it out. . .Here are a couple of updates about some stuff I was gassing off about in prior posts.

1. The Fat Ass Dispatch - I've bounced around between a 5 and 7 lb weight loss for the past few weeks. My resolve has been less than stellar. C's fav comment? "How's your diet going baby?" (Typically when I'm eating something vile and forbidden and sooooo gooooood - like Five Guy's Fries.)

And I've started doing something I'm not proud of: I've started eating processed microwave meals for lunches. I thought this would be a good way to control calories in a pinch. BUT, despite their healthful sounding names, they are loaded with sodium and other stuff that I'd rather not necessarily ingest as routinely as I've been doing it.

In my haste to reduce the amount of food we're wasting at home (see also Lifestyle Challenge), I'm not doing a great job allowing for leftovers. Time for tweaking.

2. Speaking of the Lifestyle Challenge - Things have been going amazingly well on that front. Without airing all of our finances, lets just suffice to say I WAY underestimated the amount of money I was spending on things I never needed.

For one, since August 15 - the start date, I haven't set foot in a mall. I've only been to Target once and I didn't deviate from my shopping list - which consisted entirely of consumable and deplete able items.

And the fact that we're not spending weekend time "shopping" has rewarded us with weekends-full of time spent together on novel, local adventures (barf, gag, wretch - I know). It's true. Our weekends used to be spent slogging to two or three different retail establishments. . .I was looking for quirky and creative finds and C was looking for an escape route. Without the need to search for random items, we're free to act like dorks at a State Park, museum, or other interesting locale.

I've learned so much more about Baltimore this summer than I ever would have learned had I just spent my Saturday morning in Nordstrom drooling over the latest Tory Birch shoes.

A. What have we done well?
1. Staying out of retail establishments.
2. Avoiding frivolous purchases (over-all)
3. Enjoying our time together
4. Purchasing lunch only once a week (if that)
5. Planning meals, purchasing only what we need
6. Using supplies we already have in the house before purchasing more (who knew that "thick" foundation glides on like a dream when mixed with moisturizer and a little primer?
7. Sticking to shopping lists


B. Needs Improvement? (or potentially too impractical in our original plan)?
1. Planning meals so there are sufficient leftovers
2. We have definitely purchased more than one dinner over the course of a week at times.
3. We still occasionally make "impulse purchases" but they're small - I found this fantastic gigantic Bonnie Bell LipSmacker (Dr. Pepper Flavored - of course) at the Giant. It cost all of 2 bucks and I couldn't resist. Strict adherence to the rules would have disqualified that purchase.
4. Gifts - we purchased a couple of gifts for folks. It's just not practical to think we could make or barter for these types of purchases all the time.
5. We still need to hit the grocery store and Target (less often). I wanted to have the groceries delivered but I never plan timely enough to schedule delivery when needed.

Hmmmmm. . .Not bad for a summer. Have I learned anything? Always. The Lifestyle Challenge is something definitely worth trying.

This is not just about pinching pennies - in fact it never was. It was about how material wants and needs affect other aspects of our lives - even if we don't realize it.

I have a concept I'd like to try our if readers want to participate. . .I'm still working on a plan but it would involve 20 days and 20 bucks a week. . .or similar.

Thoughts?